In 1783, the country we live in went by the ungainly name “The United States in Congress Assembled.” The Articles of Confederation described the pre-Constitution central government it created as a “firm league of friendship” among the 13 states. In addition to being friendly, though, it was …
I think a change would do you good
One of the major foreign affairs problems that haunts the United States stems from the fact every national election here brings with it the possibility of radical changes in our foreign policy. If you consider that observation against the premise the most important elements in any nation’s f…
Marveling at the rich soil sifting easily through my fingers, I’m struck that it’s not hard as concrete or muddy — it’s not even damp. It’s as though we’ve bolted from what there was of winter, skipped early spring and settled into the kind of warm, fuzzy April that doesn’t show up very freq…
This week, a chrous of Vermont medical organizations and health care leaders urged Republican Gov. Phil Scott and the Vermont General Assembly to denounce proposals to restrict access to gender care.
I completely agree with what Maura Collins stated in Proposition 4: Vermont must reduce economic disparity, advance economic opportunity and rebuild the middle class. I would only add that from my experience great economic disparities heighten divisions in communities and make difficult for …
The older you get, the more you know. And the more you know, the more you realize how pitifully little you know.
Australia is far away, but it has some climate lessons for us. The fire season in the dry southern summer of 2019-20 was horrifying and bush fires scorched a record 46 million acres, 10 times as much as the 2020 California fires, which set a new record on the West Coast. The vast Siberian fi…
The U.S. has just crossed a milestone that has been in the news a good bit during the past two weeks. As per the Gallup Organization poll recently released, less than 50% of Americans are members of a church, synagogue or mosque. That figure was 47% in 2020 and it was 50% in 1999. Prior to a…
I was 5 when I fell in love. I didn’t call it that.
For a lot of us, the connections between a warming world and our local economy are becoming more and more disturbingly apparent. I hear the sap runs were so low that many maple syrup makers needed 90 gallons of sap to sugar out one gallon of syrup this year. Those climate changed summer days…
Editor’s note: Vermont By Degrees is a series of columns written by representatives of colleges and universities from around the state about the challenges facing higher education at this time.
For many years now, our newspapers have been produced with high-speed internet connections. We call it “the cloud.” Thanks to that technology, our journalists consistently have been able to work remotely during this pandemic, gathering information and logging onto Zoom meetings in order to p…
Some readers may be tired of reading Jack Crowther's information about fluoride, but Mr. Crowther is absolutely correct about the toxicity of the fluoride used in Rutland's water supply. Another Rutland resident got the label from the product that is put into the Rutland water supply. It com…
US Pullout of Afghanistan, Vietnam parallel, withdrawal, political cartoon
The last thing you do in the middle of a crisis is kick the can down the road. Yet, that's exactly what the Legislature just did on Vermont's mounting pension liabilities.
We have just reached 412 parts per million, the highest level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in 3 million years. According to the World Economic Forum, our threshold for dangerous global warming may be as soon as 2027-42.
Dear Rutland residents:
On Tuesday, May 18, Clarendon will hold a special election for a seat on the Mill River Unified Union School District Board. I am proud to be running to represent the community, parents, staff and students of Clarendon.
I am saddened to read the story about a former FHUHS teacher whom I once saw as a voice of reason and maturity during my high school years, making his primary mission on the Rutland School Board to ensure an ethnic cartoon mascot is restored.
Right up front, I am not a Rutland resident, but my grandparents and parents went through the Rutland schools, and my granddaughter in currently attending the middle school.
Who are we (do we even know any more)?
It saddened me to read the article about the Rutland School Board meeting this week and the argument over an already voted on issue — the change of the mascot. I look at past issues that have put Rutland into the national highlight in a not so favorable light — the MSJ basketball players fro…
It is clear to me we need to keep the new mascot, the Rutland Ravens. There has been so much discussion here in Rutland since last summer around the mascot. This conflict first came to my attention last July, when an RHS parent called me and asked me not to be in favor of changing the mascot…
We commend Sens. Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders in joining the bid to get the federal government out of the fossil-fuel business.
The last year has shone a spotlight on the innumerable difficulties the globalized economy has created in all aspects of our community, and we have seen amazing local solutions in response to those challenges. When our supermarkets’ supply chain was disrupted and shelves were empty, it was l…
Minneapolis Police, George Floyd, Chauvin, trial, lynching, political cartoon
We have a Golden Plunger winner. The recipients are the Georgia Legislature and their governor, Brian Kemp. What brought these servants of the people to the winners circle was the variety of voter suppression bills passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor.
I respect the Rutland Herald's right to publish commentaries and opinions of its choosing, but respectfully suggest that Jack Crowther does not deserve more free space to promote his signature claim fluoridation is bad public-health policy. He is wrong. As he says himself in his April 8 comm…
Every spring, there is a little story here or there of the bad side of participation awards. Most people realize participation awards are not necessary for any social organizing but rather, they make people feel good. Look at the beaming smile on former-President Trump after receiving his ne…
The recent op-ed in this paper by Suzanna Jones characterized the Vermont Natural Resources Council very accurately (as did her commentary last legislative session regarding H.926, another attempt to repeal the heart of Act 250). It is because “VNRC has been engaged in public policy since 19…
While recent news of the cancellation of Montpelier’s hotel project is troubling, those familiar with Act 250 are not surprised. The decision to terminate the project is yet another example of how truly broken our state’s principal land-use law is. Montpelier’s current problem is high-profil…
As I reflect on living the past 33 years in Vermont and before that, 28 years in western Massachusetts, I ask myself what I would say to someone moving to Vermont from another state.
Doomscrolling — Merriam-Webster is “watching” this term. I wish they would cease this behavior immediately. It can lead to acknowledging and then to trouble. The fact they are watching it at all alarms me. At the rate things are going, I fear the future.
Suzanna Jones’ recent commentary on legislation eroding protections of Vermont’s waterways has been called “divisive … gratuitous … uninformed … and caustic.” Ouch! That got me thinking: what is it about intelligent, strong-willed women who speak truth to power that drives privileged males mad?
Imagine you’re President Joe Biden. You’re looking for nearly $2 trillion to fund vital repairs and improvements to America’s infrastructure. You learn of a warplane, the F-35 Lightning II, that may cost as much as $1.7 trillion to buy, field and maintain through the next half century. Also,…
If there is anything editors and lovers of the written word dislike more than a cliche, it’s the incorrect use of a word in a sentence. It drives them up a wall. Homophones are words that have the same sound as other words, but are spelled differently and have different meanings. Writers sho…
While Vermont public school officials are carping about returning to the classroom post-COVID-19, calling for higher taxes to pay for their pensions, and are otherwise consumed with controversies over mascot names and what flags get to fly on school grounds, Vermont families have been drivin…
This pandemic has been hard on every Vermonter — some more than others.
According to a 2019 United Nations report, 1 million species are currently threatened with extinction, primarily due to these human-driven activities: Changes in land and sea use; direct exploitation of organisms; climate change; pollution; invasive species.
Vermont needs Castleton University School of Nursing. Castleton University School of Nursing needs you.
Vermont Public Radio reported the University of Vermont received $50 million in COVID-19 relief funds and is now asking for $98 million more to update ventilation and to stabilize salaries. How is this COVID-19 related? ... $98 million in a state with population of 623,989?
I’ve been watching the work of the Legislature closely this year as a business owner concerned with the economic toll the pandemic has taken on our state. The majority of the Legislature’s work this year has revolved around the pandemic and offering economic relief to Vermonters. There is re…
“Pit of despair” was an unfortunate headline for a recent Rutland Herald editorial about the federal deficits and debt. The editorial quotes an economist from the “right-leaning” American Enterprise Institute who says, “the political parties will continue to do their cyclical thing: Your def…
The state has let the state employee pension build to the point where we are now in a crisis. To fix this crisis, they want me to pay more, expect less and get it later than I planned. Sounds like my first marriage …
Before I ran for office, I studied and taught history. The stories of the people who fought to amend the U.S. Constitution are some of the most compelling stories I shared with my students over the years. From the first 10 amendments to our national Constitution — that powerful Bill of Right…
President Joe Biden’s long-awaited American Jobs Plan has finally arrived, weighing in at $2.3 trillion in spending over 8 years. In today’s dollars, this is almost five times the new funding provided in President Obama’s 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. And yet, as many have bee…
This week, President Joe Biden made good on a campaign promise by signing an executive order creating a commission to examine Supreme Court reforms.
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Five Questions With
Just over three months ago we started “Five Questions With ...” to put a human face to this pandemic. Today marks the final installment in this stage of the project, but it will continue with a new set of questions more focused on Vermont’s recovery. Here, Paul Costello, of Montpelier, offer…
Marlee Brunton, of Middlesex, talks about the pandemic and its effects on her family.
Marlee Brunton, of Middlesex, talks about the pandemic and its effects on her family.
Alayna Martel, of Barre Town, is a registered nurse at UVM Medical Center. She talks about how, as a frontline workers, her life has been affected by the pandemic.
Gayle Townsend-Lang, of Rutland, works full time wearing many hats for the Rutland City Public Schools as “Miss Gayle.” Here she talks about how she has been affected by the pandemic.
Stefanie Schaffer, of Rutland, talks about how she has been coping with self-isolation and dealing with the pandemic.
Stefanie Schaffer, of Rutland, talks about how she has been coping with self-isolation and dealing with the pandemic.
Yankee Notebook columnist Willem Lange, of East Montpelier, talks about how he has been affected by self-isolation and the pandemic.
CPA Thomas Lauzon, of Barre, discusses how his life has been affected by the pandemic and self-isolation. Earlier this spring Lauzon was named to the governor’s Economic Mitigation & Recovery Task Force.
Chrispin White, of Rutland, discusses how he has been adapting to self-isolation and how the pandemic has been affecting him.
Christina Sweet, of Rutland, discusses how she and her family have been affected by the pandemic and self-isolation over these months.
Educator and Vermont Mountaineers General Manager Brian Gallagher, of East Montpelier, discusses how the pandemic has affected his life. Earlier this spring, the Mountaineers’ organizers announced they would cancel the 2020 season.
Cat Heatley, of Rutland, talks about how her life has been affected by the pandemic in recent weeks.
Cat Heatley, of Rutland, talks about how her life has been affected by the pandemic in recent weeks.
Salon owner and fitness instructor April Rogers Farnham, of Plainfield, talks about how she has been affected by self-isolation.
Barre Partnership Executive Director Tracie Lewis talks about self-isolation and how the pandemic has been affecting her life.
Montpelier writer Thomas Greene discusses how he has been affected by self-isolation and the pandemic.
Drew Smith, of Rutland, talks about self-isolation and how the pandemic has affected his life.
Jessica Van Orman talks about her experience in self-isolation and how the pandemic has affected her life.
Artist Jen Rondinone, of Rutland, reflects on self-isolation and how the pandemic has affected her and her family.
Mark Breen, the "Eye on the Sky" guy from the Fairbanks Museum in St. Johnsbury, shares his thoughts in self-isolation and how the pandemic has been affecting his life.
Senate President Pro Tem Tim Ashe discusses how self-isolation and the pandemic have affected his life.
Executive Director of the Paramount Bruce Bouchard, of Rutland, talks about how his life has been affected by the pandemic and its consequences.
Stay-at-home mom and low-income advocate Roni Lynn Shrout, of Montpelier, discusses how the pandemic has affected her family.
Carrie Allen, of Rutland, explains how she has been coping with self-isolation and what she hopes will come from it after the pandemic is over.
Vermont cartoonist Tim Newcomb provides a bit of levity to his answers about self-isolation and how he is coping.
Recovery Vermont’s Melissa Story, of Montpelier, shares her thoughts on self-isolation and how it has affected her.
Major Jackson is a poet and professor at the University of Vermont. He lives in South Burlington.
Former governor Jim Douglas shared his thoughts on self-isolation.
Danziger: Five Questions With